Is it the glass... or the windshield angle?

[Jdc]

Stop driving so close to other cars.

Stop driving slow in the left lane

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[TPadden72]

This is the right answer...

Stop driving, don't ever leave the garage.

Tom

 

[crzyhawk]

I think the angle is a primary factor part of it, and not following too close is good advice, but no guarantee.

I have had my Bronco for 1.5 years (13K miles). I did have the Stek windshield film installed early on. We have a lot of tandem gravel trucks in the area where I live and I usually keep a ridiculous distance when one is in front of me or try to get around it as best I can, which isn't always easy on two-lane roads.

I know I have taken a couple of hits, one of which left a nice mark on the film, which I am guessing would've cracked or chipped the glass if it wasn't for the film.

So far, on the original windshield.

There's no guarantee period. I lost a windshield in both of the S197 Mustangs I have owned. the first one, a big rock jumped out of the bed of a dumptruck. It hit the ground, bounced, hit my hood, and skipped into the top of my windshield which then spalled glass into my face. Thank goodness I was wearing my sunglasses. The second cracked randomly in the cold when I started it up in a parking garage at work.

If it's going to go, it's going to go. Hell, I have a dent on the INSIDE of my bronco fender from a rock I picked up and threw in Ohio. You can't control what you can't control. Don't tailgate and hope for some luck to avoid the odd ball golden BB type hits.

 

[Colohunter]

My 2018 F-150 I had to replace the original windshield last year. Not because of a star or crack, but because it had so much pitting that I could not see out of it in the morning or evening sun. The new one lasted 5 months before getting a star from what sounded like a small rock. Our Bronco we got at the end of April and we had protection screen put on it when we bought it new. We went to Oklahoma a couple weeks ago. Had 2 rocks that hit the windshield very hard. Thought it would of broke the windshield for sure. It didn't. 3 year guarantee that the windshield will not break. We will see how it goes.

 

[rdg04578]

It's probably because some one driving in front of you has the stock Goodyear Territory tires and they are still shedding stones and rocks

 

[Kini]

It’s a combination of angle, extremely thin glass and bad luck.

Exactly, Second windshield was yesterday in heavy traffic in Salt Lake City, big bang, big crack. No idea what. First was on first day, middle of Wyoming with 300 miles on odometer, came from opposing traffic.

 

[Kini]

Its all junk ! In my personal opinion FORD advertised name brand upgrades as being premium top notch upgrades but bent us over with name brand junk ! They won't even replace the junk garbage shocks instead they put mickey mouse diapers to hide the worthless reservoirs. It wouldn't surprise me if they sourced out the windshields to some chop shop in a 3rd world country.

This is the right answer. Stop tailgating. It’s free and better for your paint too. 3,000,000 miles and counting and I’ve never had a windshield issue.

3,000,000 miles in a Bronco, now that's impressive.

 

[Polyglot]

I'd say it's primarily the angle or lack thereof. My recent trip to Alberta, Canada destroyed my windshield from the on-coming snow plows and semi trucks. One crack came from a semi that was 4 cars ahead of me in the adjacent #2 lane on a multi-lane highway. I saw the rock hit the road 3 times before hitting my windshield. It was as if the rock didn't like Americans and nothing was going to stop it from hitting me! Lol.

At the end of the trip it looked like I went through a hasty ambush! I had 5 solid hits. I come from the full-size truck world before getting the Bronco. I never had to replace a windshield in any of my trucks.

Pro Tip:

Alberta throws "sand" on their roads in the winter. Except, the "sand" is actually rocks....big freaking rocks. I thought the chip sealing we do on our roads was bad.

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